The Last Tycoon (1976)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Harold Pinter (writer)

Release Date:

19 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He has the power to make anyone's dream come true... except his own.

Plot:

F.Scott Fitzgerald's novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death. |

Plot Keywords:

Sound Stage | Earthquake | Based On Unfinished Work | Melodrama | Telegram

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Monroe Stahr
Tony Curtis	...	Rodriguez
Robert Mitchum	...	Pat Brady
Jeanne Moreau	...	Didi
Jack Nicholson	...	Brimmer
Donald Pleasence	...	Boxley
Ray Milland	...	Fleishacker
Dana Andrews	...	Red Ridingwood
Ingrid Boulting	...	Kathleen Moore
Peter Strauss	...	Wylie
Theresa Russell	...	Cecilia Brady
Tige Andrews	...	Popolos
Morgan Farley	...	Marcus
John Carradine	...	Tour guide
Jeff Corey	...	Doctor
Diane Shalet	...	Stahr's secretary
Seymour Cassel	...	Seal trainer
Anjelica Huston	...	Edna (as Angelica Huston)
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Brady's secretary
Sharon Masters	...	Brady's secretary
Eric Christmas	...	Norman
Leslie Curtis	...	Mrs. Rodriguez
Lloyd Kino	...	Butler
Brendan Burns	...	Assistant editor
Carrie Miller	...	Ladly in restaurant
Peggy Feury	...	Hairdresser
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Lady writer
Patricia Singer	...	Girl on beach
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pamela Guest	...	Stahr's secretary (as Pamela Seamon)
Don Brodie	...	Extra on Set (uncredited)
Nicholas Cairis	...	Man at front table (uncredited)
Jester Hairston	...	Waiter in Stahr's office (uncredited)
Byron Morrow	...	Studio executive (uncredited)
Montana Smoyer	...	Disgruntled lady on elevator talking to husband (uncredited)
H.M. Wynant	...	Man at daillies (uncredited)

Directed by
Elia Kazan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
F. Scott Fitzgerald		novel
Harold Pinter		writer

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Victor J. Kemper

Film Editing by
Richard Marks

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Art Direction by
Jack T. Collis

Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone
Anthea Sylbert

Makeup Department
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup artist
Jean Burt Reilly	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Lloyd Anderson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Daigler	....	second assistant director
Daniel McCauley	....	first assistant director (as Danny McCauley)
Ron Wright	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Larry Jost	....	sound mixer
Barbara Fallick Marks	....	sound editor (as Barbara Marks)
Ronald Poore	....	sound editor
Robert M. Reitano	....	sound editor (as Robert Reitano)
Winston Ryder	....	sound editor
Dick Vorisek	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Henry Millar	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Rose	....	key grip

Music Department
Joseph Glassman	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Joseph Sullivan	....	driver

Other crew
Daniel McCauley	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Academy Pictures Corporation
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Look Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (19??) (Germany) (VHS)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG (certificate #24458) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15

Company:

Academy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Bonnie Bartlett's film debut.

Quotes:

Pat Brady: Fleishacker, let me tell you something. After the revolution, you'll be the only safe one. You know why? Because they always need lawyers after a revolution to straighten out the legal end.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

One of the Most Overlooked Films in History For Good and For Bad...

What a mystery THE LAST TYCOON has been. This is a large-scale film with perhaps the greatest cast of male actors in history and nary a mention is made of it. Most critics bash it, the common viewer may dismiss it, but you cannot deny its place in history. It is not often you will find such a pool of talent AND a movie with both Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson on screen together. They even FIGHT! By the way, THE LAST TYCOON also happens to be an excellent, if flawed, work of art.

Director Elia Kazan (GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT, ON THE WATERFRONT) and company have taken F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel about the politics and personal conflicts of 1930's Hollywood and put forth an off-beat, unusual picture. Kazan is one of only three directors to successfully direct motion pictures between the 1940's on through the 1970's (the other 2 being Hitchcock and Huston). A staggeringly legendary cast play their parts effectively instead of just calling in their performances, which easily could have happened. Perhaps there was some competition between the old school actors and their methods (Mitchum, Milland, Andrews, Curtis, Pleasence to name a few) and the "method" actors like De Niro or Nicholson who symbolically take the torch in this film. This is especially true of De Niro's extraordinary lead as "Monroe Stahr" (based on Irving Thalberg). Kazan helped to create the "method" acting concept, so who better to direct such a crossroad of talent.

"Monroe Stahr" is a no nonsense "Studio Chief" who I'm sure Fitzgerald encountered while a hack writer in Hollywood during his final years. De Niro as "Stahr" orders cuts here and fires directors there and caters to what he thinks audiences want. He is actually a noble character, something Fitzgerald may not have meant to express. He must deal with Robert Mitchum and Ray Milland, who represent the corporate, artless side of the picture business and later the writer's wing (represented by Mr. Nicholson). As expected, there are many conflicts of interest but the movie's magic lies in the amazing contrast Kazan and company make between the dream world of an old black and white movie and what happened when the director yelled "CUT".

I love classic black and white films and one of the aspects that made them so great was the world you were thrust into. Fake backdrops, miniatures, and grand sets surrounded the actors in most of them, but the dream-like quality of a black and white film kept you involved. With this film, some curiously familiar "fictional" film clips are used for screening purposes where the studio executives would clap or claw at what was projected (They were filmed specifically for this film). Kazan and co. create scenes from supposed films (one was CASABLANCA turned inside out) to add some realism to it all. We get to see an actor from the movies-within-the-movie "on" and "off-screen". Tony Curtis has some good early scenes as a perfect screen presence, but an awfully inept star "off-screen" when he meets with De Niro to confess his sexual confusion in real life. You'll know what I mean if you see the flick for yourself.

LAST TYCOON is a love story more than anything. Many people may dismiss the love angle as a distraction. I found it slightly hypnotic and mysterious. The love interest, played by a beautiful actress named Ingrid Boulting, is great at exuding an elusive quality, something the De Niro character can't put his finger on. It all leads up to a somewhat vague climax and ending, but perhaps the filmmakers were unable to come up with the final stamp Fitzgerald failed to accomplish himself.

This is a film for discerning and patient film-goers only. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. That is why I see movies. Why the film has been so looked over is bizarre. Even if you consider it a complete flop, it deserves recognition, if only for the great cast. If you like classic films and know a thing or two about film history, you may know why THE LAST TYCOON is so captivating.

RATING: 8 1/2 of 10